Powered by Giving, 
Led by Nurses 
When Chastine Elam steps onto her 
nursing unit at HonorHealth Deer 
Valley Medical Center, she brings more 
than clinical expertise — she brings 
confidence, compassion and a belief 
that healing means helping patients 
move forward, even when it’s difficult.
A registered nurse in trauma care, 
Chastine’s calling was shaped early 
on. Growing up in Phoenix, she spent 
hours in hospitals supporting her 
sister through medical challenges. 
It was the nurses’ steady presence 
and compassion that left a lasting 
impression. 
“I always loved nurses,” she says. 
“They were the ones who made hard 
moments feel manageable.” 
Today, Chastine provides that same 
reassurance to her patients. 
Through the Nursing Excellence 
Endowment, funded by generous 
donors, Chastine received support 
to attend the American Nurses 
Credentialing Center’s Magnet & 
Pathway Conference in 2025. The 
experience exposed her to national 
best practices and innovations, but 
more importantly, it reshaped how 
she saw her role as a nurse. 
“It made me realize nursing is so 
much bigger than the bedside,” she 
shares. “What we do has purpose 
beyond the moment.” 
She returned to her unit energized 
and ready to lead. Chastine shared 
insights from the conference with 
colleagues, encouraged research 
and collaboration, and became a 
trusted resource for strengthening 
communication across care teams. 
“It gave me the confidence to speak 
up and be involved,” she says. 
That confidence now shows most 
clearly in her patient care. Many of 
her trauma patients face fear and 
uncertainty as they work to regain 
mobility after serious injuries. 
Chastine is a strong advocate for 
helping them take that first step 
forward — physically and emotionally. 
“They think they can’t do it,” she 
explained. “And then they stand, 
move, and you see that relief and 
pride.” 
With encouragement, compassion 
and thoughtful determination, she 
empowers patients to believe in 
their own recovery — an approach 
strengthened through donor-
supported leadership development. 
Through investments in nursing 
excellence, donors are not only 
supporting education, they are 
strengthening leadership, elevating 
care and helping patients move 
forward with confidence, one step  
at a time.
“Knowing the 
community 
believes in us 
makes me want 
to care for every 
patient like 
family.”
—CHASTINE ELAM 
N U R S I N G  E XC E L L E N C E  E N D OW M E N T
Chastine Elam
HonorHealth Foundation   23 

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.